the tip of my tongue
by shiksa goddess
Summary: I still can't say it/Tandre, for minilikescoffee's contest. Songfic of "things I'll Never Say" by Avril Lavigne


1)_frozen~ im feeling nervous_

Her hands were sweating.

The tension stood between them, an invisible blockade.

"I can't do this." She pulled on a loose thread on her shorts, wrapping it around her finger, which was already numb with fear.

"It'll be fine." He says, whispering so close to her neck she can feel the cool breath washing over it. "Just follow me."

The air in the room was bitter as they stepped apart.

His warm brown eyes met hers. "If you ever loved me, you'd have come back immediately to seek my return."

"But I do love you, Bruno."

"Then prove it."

At this point, they were close enough thatL there toes touched and hearbeats resounded in each others ears.  
>He leaned in, and she stayed still, but soon enough, their lips were touching and-and<p>

Inverted pep talks (_You're doing it Tori, c'mon_) turned to realization (_Oh my God, I'm making out with my best_ _friend_) and pleasure. (_And I'm liking it_?)

They pulled apart, and the strands of something-more-than-friends snapped back into concealed places of not-going-there.

But as the (forgotten) rest of the class applauded, André intertwined their fingers and leaned back in towards her.

"We should do that again sometime."

She nodded, and the thin strands of romance tied knots the bound them together.

But, it's not like she'd ever admit that.

/  
><em><br>2)taller~tryna be so perfect_

The dress shimmered under certain light.

He could tell she'd made sure everything was perfect. Her dewy skin, vibrant red lips, and dark eyes were perfectly done and her dress was crisp and new.

It seemed like she was afraid of dancing, doing anything that maybe required flaw.

She seemed uptight, so different than the days of friendship.

"Tori?"

"Yeah?" Her eyes drifted off to the crowd of happy, dancing, _im_perfect people.

"Why aren't you happy?"

"I am."

"You're not."

Tori spun a glossy curl around her finger.

" I just wanted to impress you."

"Tori, if nothing else, we are best friends. You impress me with every breath you take. I love you. Can we just dance now?"

She took his hand, and they stepped onto the floor.

He couldn't help but notice that her sliver heels made her taller than him.

3)_boxes~'cause i know you're worth it_

Three rolls of Duct tape, 27 boxes.

"You'll write everyday,right?" Tori said, hair tied in a bandanna.

"Of course. NYU will never be right without you."

"Well..." She held a typed list of inventory, organizing his college necessities to a minute spreadsheet.

She placed a portrait of them in the last box, so he'd know where to find it.

She sealed every box closed after making sure every shirt or notebook was accounted for and spent an hour labelling everything in clear, loopy handwriting.

He unpacked everything, a lifetime crammed into half a storage shed's worth of space.

The last box, labeled "_Tori_", released vanilla and mothball scent as soon as he opened it. The portrait lay on top, but Tori's favorite shirts and jeans, and her Cuddle-Me-Cathy doll packed beneath it.  
>She wouldn't have forgotten things like that.<p>

The door was knocked on, and André figured it was a roomate.

Tori stood in the hall. "I need my stuff to put in my dorm."

"What?"

She smiled. "I'm across the hall."

He kissed her. She handn't even wanted to come here.  
>She fails to remind anyone she gave up Julliard.<p>

/

4)_youth~if i could say what i wanted to say_

He took her to a playground.

He saw her eyes light up for a second,for just a second, he made her happy.

She kept playing on the slide, and the swings, and she smiled, a glowing smile, reserved for things that really made her happy, like singing and André.

/  
>She fell asleep under the stars, her glossy hair spilling out over the picnic blanket.<p>

He wanted to say" I love you," but he figured she'd hear.  
>They drove off an hour later, and everything she wanted to say(<em> I love you<em>) rolled off her tongue as

"Thanks."

And he pressed his lips to hers, hoping the taste of coffee spoke for him.

/  
>5)<em>tailored~i wanna blow you away<em>

He feels like the guy in Sixteen Wishes, but he never wants to admit he watches Disney, so it stays internal.

Tori comes out in a black dress, a purple one, and a tailored grey one that hugs her athletic frame perfectly.

"How do I look?" She laughs, pulling her hair on top of her head in one of those..chignons, he thinks they're called.

"You look beau-" The word gets caught in his throat.

"You-you look great, Tor."

"Really?"

"Of course. You always look beau- great."

"Aww, you're sweet. Lemme go pay for this."

He offers the salesclerk his credit card, and Tori, being Tori, declined.

"No,no,no. You're already doing more than enough by being my date."

"Oh,please, I'd pay to do that alone."

"Well,then, you're buying my corsage!"

"So let me buy the dress,too."

"Ugh,fine." She pouted, and the saleslady folds it into a neat rectangle.

/

At prom, Tori dazzles in the grey dress with black heels and her hair loose and wavy. A purple flower, their signature color, wraps around her tiny wrist.

"I love your dress." He chuckles, lights strobing in their faces.

"I got it for you." She purrs, intoxicating with exery syllable.

"Let's dance."  
>She loves how the dress twirls, and she loves how he stares at her in it.<p>

(She just wanted to drive him **crazy**)

/__

_6)pillows-be with you every night_

"I'm alone. Can you come over?"

He drops the could wait.

"I'll be there in ten."

He's not sure how, but Tori dragged him into watching Tangled and his eyes diverted from the screen to Tori's burnt-brown hair,still streaked with blue, which dusted her tan shoulders.  
>By the time the movie ended(with the happy-ever-after), Tori protested his return home.<p>

"It's almost midnight, you can't drive home_ now_" She huddled under a fleece blanket, face an angel peering at him with wide, innocent cinnomon eyes.

"Well, what are you suggesting?"He smirked, knowing very well what she was implying.

Tori groaned and pulled herself up on her elbow.

"You could ,y'know,sleep over" Tori stammered.

André smiled" Well, no sleepover is complete without a...pillow fight!" He yelled, taking a down pillow from Tori and whacking her with it.

"Oh,it's _on_!"

The floor was covered with popcorn,feathers, and glee.

Their lips met, something the brain didn't plan for but the heart knew from Day 1, and they fit together like a lock and key.

She woke up in his arms the next morning, but they felt so good, she decided to leave them there.

7) _talent-am i squeezing you too tight_

She ran offstage in a sparkly dress, hair matted to her shiny forehead. She looked like a goddess.

"So how'd I do?" And her happiness was blinding.

"You were amazing." He picked her up and swirled her around, and her Converse hit him in the chest.

"André...I...can't...breathe..." She gasped.

He set her down. "Sorry."

"It 's fine" She wrapped her arms around his built frame.  
>He hugged her back,for the hell of it.<p>

How the hell was this Trina's sister?

8) _trains-wanna see you go down on one knee/marry me today_  
>The rumble of the tracks died down as they chugged along.<p>

"Ugh, Cat chooses to have her 21st birthday party in Seattle?"

"Her family's there."

"Still."

The train pulled to a stop in San Francisco and newlyweds, still in wedding garb, boarded.  
>The way they looked at each other, anyone could tell they were in love.<p>

"Awww!" Tori drawled, holding her heart. "That's adorable."  
>The couple couldn't be much older than Tori and Andre.<p>

"Yeah," Andre said stiffly. "They are cute."  
>Tori settled into her chair, the leather squeaking as she broke it in.<p>

"Hey, Tori, check this out." Tori turned around to Andre, holding a purple velvet box.  
>She gasped. He smiled.<p>

"Will you,Tori Vega, marry me?" He smiled sheepishly, frozen in fear.  
>They walked into Cat's party, and the diamond gleamed in the light glow of the disco ball.<p>

/

Her shoes were white as she walked down the aisle. They were Converse.

**(**_**I do**)_

9) _magic- guess im wishing my life away_

Something glittered in that math class.

The seat next to her was empty, as he was absent.

She drew forlornly on the Calculus worksheet.

"_T.V + A.H"_  
><em>" Harris"<em>  
><em>"Ariana Grace Harris"<em>

"Miss Vega?"

She snapped the binder closed.

"Yes?"

"What is your greatest wish?"

Tori glanced around the room. "My greatest wish is to lead a happy,successful life with André Harris."

No one chuckled.

/  
>She came home to roses on her porch.<p>

"For Tori  
>You're magical.<br>Love,  
>André"<p>

He sat on the piano bench

"I don't know what you been used to-oo." He sang.  
>She kissed him against the stairwell.<p>

"You're my wish."She smiled.

"What?"

She kissed him again.

10) _these things i'll never say_

She kept telling herself maybe it just wasn't meant to be.  
>But she knew it was.<p>

They stood on the stairwell,hands a little too close.  
>She pulled it away.<p>

"You know we're best friends,right?"

"Of course."

"You know I love you,right?"

"Of course."

/  
>A lyric sheet labled" André" slipped out of her binder in a bundle of papers.<p>

"D-don't read that." Tori whimpered,snatching at it.

"Why?" He smiled.

_He scanned the sheet._  
><em>'Cause I'm feeling nervous, tryna be so perfect, <em>  
><em>Because I know you're worth it.<em>  
><em>You're worth this,yeah.<em>  
><em>..<em>  
><em>I wanna blow you away,<em>  
><em>Be with you every night, <em>  
><em>Am I squeezing you too tight<em>  
><em>If I could say what I wanted to see<em>  
><em>I wanna see you go down on one knee<em>  
><em>Marry me today<em>  
><em>Guess Im wishing my life away,<em>  
><em>with these things I'll never say.<em>

"You wrote this?"  
>She nodded, grabbed the paper, and ran off.<p>

_With these things I'll never say._

**A/N: I'm not even sure I like what I did here T.T/ Review:)**


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